It had potential to be the biggest long-term project in the history of an engineering firm that had seen more than its share of impressive projects. As a national firm, UMA’s survival depended on large, multi-year engagements to keep its staff as billable as possible.

The bespoke opportunity was part of the expansion of Pearson International Airport — Canada’s largest. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA), the facility’s owner, had bet its future on this expansion to turn Pearson into an international gateway. UMA was bidding to design the “ground side” — the approach roads, parking, and other facilities.

UMA’s office manager told me that the deciding factor in his firm’s getting the job was that its proposal included the CVs of three highly skilled professionals — world-renowned thought leaders in the niche field of airport design. Having these professionals listed in UMA’s proposal reassured the airport authority that the project would benefit from world-class expertise.Continue Reading

In a previous column, I talked about how a good content marketing strategy can lead to invitations for your organization’s thought leaders to speak at relevant industry events. This time, let’s take a look at how those public speaking engagements can, in turn, be repurposed and leveraged into new content marketing products.

As we did last time, let’s imagine that you’re the managing partner of a boutique urban planning firm and you’ve just made a key hire, “Alice,” who is an expert in the field of high-rise residential design. As part of your marketing efforts to increase brand awareness, one of your goals is to raise Alice’s thought leadership profile in the urban planning community. So from a content marketing perspective, you are looking for ways to gain the greatest possible benefit from a speech she’s been booked to deliver at an upcoming industry conference.Continue Reading

Public speaking is a powerful way to get your organization’s message across, positioning the speaker as a subject-matter expert. Anyone who has spoken at a conference knows the power of wearing that speaker’s badge — a presenter’s words, even in a conversation in the lobby over a coffee and croissant, just seem to have more weight. 

An effective content marketing strategy can help put your organization on that podium.Continue Reading

Consider a company that is trying to choose between two consulting firms, each claiming to be a thought leader in solving a particularly thorny problem. One firm’s representative says, “We’ve written five posts in our firm’s blog this year,” while the other says, “Here are reprints of five articles we’ve published this year on the websites of your industry’s most influential professional associations.”

Based on that, which do you think is more likely to get the job?

When it comes to demonstrating thought leadership through content, it’s not just about getting your content published anywhere online in hopes that Google will find it. To show thought leadership effectively, it matters that the content is posted in a place online that has credibility with your market. Here’s why.Continue Reading

Maybe you think of LinkedIn as primarily an online resume, or a database of potential employees. Take it one step further — LinkedIn is rapidly emerging as a vehicle for demonstrating expertise and thought leadership, through displaying content that an individual has developed.

Before going further, let me say that I have no relationship with LinkedIn, other than having my profile listed there.Continue Reading

• “Your car needs a whole new exhaust system,” your mechanic tells you.
• “There’s no way to fix that tooth except with an implant that may cost $3,000,” says your dentist.
• “This tax deduction is entirely legal and none of my clients has been challenged on it,” promises your accountant.

Do you go ahead with their recommendations? Probably — provided you trust them. Trust is huge. If you’ve got the trust of another person, they’ll follow you, buy your products or services, and recommend you to others. If you don’t, they’ll push back, demand concessions on price or terms, and take their business elsewhere.Continue Reading

They’re a staple of courtroom dramas everywhere — expert witnesses. These are individuals whose professional opinion is so valued that it can help sway, or even decide, the outcome of a court case. Clearly, informed opinion from appropriately qualified people has value in our society.

It’s something that also has value from a content marketing perspective. Opinion-oriented content can be fun to read, as well as informative, so it collects eyeballs. It can be a tremendously valuable source of information for anyone in decision-making mode — such as someone deciding on a new car, trying to find a lawyer specializing in intellectual property, or looking for guidance on how to vote.

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One of the core principles of content marketing is that the content must be genuinely helpful to the user. While it should be presented in an engaging way, it’s not about entertainment — it’s about providing a useful service.

One of the most beneficial kinds of content is the “how-to” (you’ll find plenty of great examples, like this one, on the CMI site). Simply, it describes how to do something, and is one of several kinds of content I discussed in an earlier CMI post.

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